StraightxHate are so much more than sounds. Using a highly customized hybrid of all things grinding and heavy, they set off to an adventurous journey through the land of dead archbishops and religious zealots, copyright infringement, cosmic vibes and stroboscopic states of mind. Enjoy the ride.
- You've got your first album, Indigenous out in September. Tell us about your efforts to get the band signed. What do you think made the labels turn you down, and what would you have changed if you were to repeat this whole label-hunt?
+ Well, for starters I collaborated with our artist friend Dani Goudelis and we came up with a promokit featuring an unmastered advance copy of the album. I think that we took advantage of the DVD-case format and exposed pretty well our aesthetics and intentions. We sent it over to about 40 labels. Half of them were the major league of independent metal/hardcore labels and the other half, cult underground labels that we felt that we fit in their roster. After receiving no positive answer whatsoever, there was the plan B, which I already had proposed to the band: to release it, just like our debut Grim Memories mini-CD, through my small underground label BLAST BEAT MAILMURDER. Our goal was not to be signed and get our CD released at any cost. We wanted either to take advantage of the solid exposure (including eventually some basic tour support) and distribution that would ensure us a bigger label, or just to be on a smaller quality label with personality. I think that the process of sending CDs forever would eventually exhaust us, plus the fact that I was freaking out with the thought of giving away the rights of this recording and not being able to control everything (especially the packaging). And anyways, in the case of most extreme labels, we would have to make the distribution happen ourselves in Greece.
There are several reasons I can think about why got rejected. First of all, the background of the record industry is not euphoric. CD sales are not what they used to be before the CD-burning/MP3/P2P era. It’s not like 10 or 15 years ago. Therefore, labels seek bands that are already known in the underground, because this simply means less promotion costs and a “product” which is easier to sell. As far as Indigenous goes, we feel that considering exclusively the quality of the music, the style, the aesthetics and the sound, it is an album that fits the standards of any big independent label. I guess the fact that our music style & aesthetics are quite composite played a role too. We are not a death metal band, we are not a (post-) hardcore band, we are not a grindcore band (even though it is the closest we can get to a particular scene)… Maybe we do not appeal instantly to a well-defined niche/target-group of music fans. I consider this to be something positive because we sort of challenge the modern metal/hardcore fan with a personal concoction out of different music styles, but on the short-term, maybe we are not so easily marketable. But it is all right. We are not a professional band and this debut album of ours came out beyond our expectations. It is maybe cliché to say that, but it is what counts at the end of the day.
If I had to repeat the process, I wouldn’t change much – just a few details. Maybe include a normal band-photo, or contact a dozen labels more, or send over the mastered version instead of the final mix. But those would not make the difference. Another context in the record industry and the music scene in general, might alter the outcome instead.
- Has much changed in the band's orientation since the 2004 mini-CD? Have you gained a following in the local scene through your mini-CD or mostly the intense live shows?
+ Well, it is mostly through our live shows that we built a reputation of our own. Unfortunately the mini-CD got delayed for a number of reasons - including tremendous line-up changes and the fact that we wasted time trying to find the proper label to release it. The music got recorded in 2002 and when it was finally released in 2004, only one member of the line-up that originally hit the studio remained! It was a fine release though and the local scene liked it a lot. Unfortunately for many people, shortly after it came out, the new line-up was fed up of the old songs and wanted to play the new material thus excluding them from the gig setlists.
Our musical evolution had (and has) a lot to do with the new, younger, members that joined the band. We changed a lot. We wanted to play faster and be more intense. Most people in the first five minutes after listening to Indigenous, tell us “this is a different band man”! The link between the mini-CD and the earlier, more old-school/thrashy incarnation of the band, and our new material can be heard on the track You’ll Never See Heaven out of Indigenous.
- I couldn't help noticing the mock corporate song in your album. I am aware that you work a 9 to 5 job. What do you think about the 'modus operandi' of the average modern-day corporation? How and to what extent does your job interfere to your existence?
+ You’re referring to the lyrics of Company Car. I work for a computer corporation and this song is about employees that have the attitude of belonging to a special race, simply because they work for a corporation and enjoy certain benefits – for example a company car. Working for a corporation can have a negative impact on your personal life. It also means that you’re pretty much disposable and could get fired with the next CEO and his new cost reduction policy. On the other hand, in a country like Greece, where the local companies often treat their employees like shit, the local office of a corporation can guarantee some basic things that are not to be taken for granted elsewhere: getting your salary every month on time for example, or having social insurance, etc.
My daytime job is the sponsor of my personal life – including my music-related activities. Until now, I have maintained a correct balance between my work and my personal life. I am aware that this will eventually change in the future… I’d rather not work of course, but I don’t have a decent plan B (yet).
- Still on the individual songs front, I noticed the Isolator song, and the fact that it is the most ambiguous, almost psychedelic in lyrical terms. What did you have in mind when writing this one?
+ You are correct, Isolator‘s lyrics are the most psychedelic in the whole album. They are meant to be interpreted individually by whoever gets into the process of reading them and plunging into the album’s atmosphere. In this context, I would not want to divulge much because it would ruin the pleasure of associating them (together with the music) with the personal experiences and perception of the listener. Let’s just say that they have a lot to with special places, cosmic vibes and stroboscopic states of mind.
- You have repeatedly dealt with the topic of religion. What do you, as a band, aim to achieve through your anti-religious stance? What is the situation like in Hellas these days? Do you see this changing any time soon, and what would it take.
+ What we want is help achieve awareness in our scale about the tragedy of religion. We focus on monotheistic religions (Judaism, Islam, Christianism) & more specifically Christianity. The reason why we do this is because they introduced intolerance into the sphere. Humans were always greedy and violent, but until the advent of monotheism they tolerated each other’s gods (often adopting them) and nobody claimed he possessed a connection with a single concept of the divine. Those religions were in direct opposition with the local heathen cults, who were adapted on each nation/tribe’s environment and idiosyncrasy. Direct results of this was the destruction of civilization as it was known until the era of our lord. Scientific progress slowly stopped as Christians provoked the disintegration of the Roman Empire . Philosophy schools were shut and libraries burned. Temples destroyed. Medicine regressed dramatically. Populations who would not convert decimated. Religious totalitarianism reigned in darkness for over 1000 years. History was re-written by the winners. Words lost their meaning as they were stripped out of their context (the perfect example is the ancient Greek word “daemon” for example, which now has a negative meaning). Overall humanity regressed as it has been taught to seek for the truth into holy books & not where it really is: in nature. After a renaissance that wasn’t enough to revert the middle-ages’ harm on civilization, the industrial/technological revolutions crashed unto a world that was not enough educated and responsible to handle their benefits & consequences. We have lost the connection to our instincts and to the land, this is why we’re doomed.
Anybody can verify this by looking at the news and see what is happening in the world today. It’s the Jews against the Arabs, the Arabs against the Jews and the Christians and so on. Basically, we have to deal with shallow systems of thought which make people kill each other for the profit of few. The facts speak for themselves. It is very simple really. Has the world become a better place to live since all those messiahs and prophets? No! We are living in times when theocracy is rising. Bush and Blair invoke the name of god, US ’ public opinion’s unconditional support to Israel is also explained by the fact Christians there take the Apocalypse very seriously… Like a Christian hardcore musician told me in an interview a couple of years ago: “ America stands up for Israel and I think that is the right thing to do. I believe in the Bible and I believe the Bible when it says that nations that stand for Israel will be blessed! I think it is not far before the final prophecies of the book of Revelation come true and the end of our days will be upon us. Keep your eyes on the news and the fight over the temple mount in Jerusalem . That is the centre of all that is happening in the world! When the Jewish people are alowed the right to rebuild their temple of worship on that mount, the end is very close. It has been prophesized thousands of years ago and it will happen very soon”. There is a lot more to be said of course.
I invite your readers to check out the website www.jesusneverexisted.com (as well as its companion book) in order to get all the historical, social, political, theological background about the fabrication and domination of Christianism – the biggest fraud in history. Please also notice that as we speak, there are indigenous tribes who get culturally murdered as the western civilization reaches the most remote parts of the world, big pharmaceutical corporations steal the medicine recipes from the tribes’ shamans (in Amazon and elsewhere) and trademark them without paying back loyalties, etc, etc…
Hellas-Greece is the only country in Europe where church is not disassociated from the state: for example, the priests get their monthly salaries from tax-payers like me… When I moved in France in 1988 with my parents, my friends in high-school found it hard to believe that on my Greek ID card there was a field for “religion” (this has changed only recently after major reactions from the orthodox church)! If another, non-orthodox, cult wants to build a temple, it has to obtain the approval not only from the government but also from the arch-bishop. Kids in school make their prayer at the beginning of the day and have their religion class. All this sounds pretty retarded and it certainly is! Like a lot of things that go wrong in this country, they are due to the overall lack of education and culture of the modern Greeks. Things will eventually change but slowly. This is not a reason to lose heart and not speak the truth. There have been recent scandals of sex and corruption in the justice system involving members of the orthodox clergy. It was not something powerful enough to change dramatically things, but the masks fell down for a short while and, for example, a bigger part of the public opinion became more positive towards the concept of separating the state and church. Politicians, even those supposedly “socialist”, know that they cannot win the elections with the church against them. Small signs of progress exist. More and more people become suspicious towards orthodox Christianism. Notions like the incompatibility of ancient Greek culture and Christianity, or facts such as the destruction of temples, are not so underground any more. The new generations believe a lot less in god than their fathers, but this is not enough to instantly get rid off of all those religious fanatics. The orthodox church is probably the most wealthy organization in Hellas . It will take a lot of time to bring it down. But as the last of our grandmothers will pass away, the churches will empty and orthodoxy will be mere folklore sauce. We’re working on it!
- What do you think about the whole 'virtual' thing happening these days...The MySpace epidemic, the lawsuits against P2P networks and the copyright breach?
+ MySpace is a new fashion and there are corporations behind it. Like BURST wrote in their webpage, it is all about “pseudo-socialization”. French hip-hop band LE KLUB DES LOSERS put it right too in their MySpace page: “virtual friends don’t count”! Nevertheless, it remains a good way for spreading your music. Underground bands like us, must use all the resources they can reach in order to spread their music. MySpace is such a medium. If it stops being free, or if it gets too much controlled and censored, it will not be helpful anymore. If you take it too seriously and become addicted, then you’re weak. A lot of young people in the western world are dysfunctional as far as communication and personal contact goes and find it easier to communicate electronically. This is the main target group to which MySpace appeals.
Concerning P2P networks, I think it is very good for underground bands like STRAIGHTHATE to get their music carried through them. Because we will never sell tons anyway and if people will get hooked up with the MP3’s of our music, they might eventually want to take the ride for real and see us live or buy the CD. When I was younger I discovered some of my favourite bands by tape-trading with people in the Europe or in the US. Tape-trading helped build the underground punk/metal/hardcore scenes in the 80’s. P2P sharing is just an evolution of it.
The lawsuits against Napster by Metallica made me want to throw out, it is just pathetic. I respect the fact that some musicians want to live out of their music, but we live in a capitalist world. This couldn’t go forever, that a caste of people live out of plastic little things with fabrication cost of maybe 1$ , who are sold 20 times more. The record companies have to offer something more if they want that people keep buying. But then most mainstream culture is disposable, you can’t sell CDs that people probably will never listen again next year. Why should people give their hard earned money for lifeless pop culture? They can download it, print the covers and make a nice little piece of forgery that they can show to their friends for nearly no money at all. I’m also happy that the author rights mechanism in Windows Media Player and iTunes got cracked recently. Download stuff for free, but support the independent bands that you find inspiring by buying their records/t-shirts or by attending a live show.
- You've been actively involved in the scene for more than 10 years now. Give us a lowdown of how things changed in the HC Scene in Greece over the years, and what do you see happening in the future.
+ Hardcore in Greece has been a weird story. There has been and still is a strong anarcho-punk/DIY/squat scene. Most of the bands evolving within had/have punk/crust style and greek lyrics. Hardcore bands with english lyrics and style closer to NY, or to the east coast of the US were very few and isolated. As you remember back in the late 90’s very few people in Athens had access and were listening to modern hardcore stuff such as All Out War, Earth Crisis, Zao, Converge, Kickback, Integrity, etc. This kernel of people started eventually to organize and start making bands – one of them was STRAIGHTHATE. Because those bands did not fit to the strict local DIY policy and politics, the foundations of a small parallel scene were created. This handful of bands included INNERMOST from Megara near Athens , SUN OF NOTHING from Athens mixing noisecore with sludge, blackmetal and grind, STAGNATE, etc. A promoter started to bring over foreign hardcore acts and things started to roll. Around the same period kids who liked skatecore (namely Vodka Juniors, Cannonball Records) organized too, as well as shit happening in Salonika with metal/grind bands like HOMO IRATUS, KVAZAR, ERECTUS. Eventually those segments started to interact, more people got into organizing gigs and releasing local records.
The physical isolation of the country, as well as the cultural gap that often exists between Greece and central Europe , is responsible for the fact things started to happen slowly. Nevertheless this is a reason why this development was quite unique. Bands blend genres and influences their own way. This is why I wouldn’t talk about a “hardcore” scene, but in more general terms of a new extreme hellenic sound for which hardcore was a reference point to some extent. Together with STRAIGHTHATE, there is a handful of bands that have completed (or are about to) fantastic new/debut full-lengths, namely: HOMO IRATUS, ERECTUS, SUN OF NOTHING, KVAZAR, DEAD CONGREGATION, EXTREME VIOLENCE. Some others will soon hit the studio for what should be very exciting new recordings (KONKAVE, MORE OF MYSELF TO KILL, INNERMOST, INVERACITY, VULNUS). I feel that the time for us is now. We have something strong going on here, both creatively and aesthetically. We have an exotic charm that will be appreciated by eclectic music fans worldwide.
- For such a small community, things seem to be quite flaky...I'm aware of at least two occasions where interpersonal relations between key members of the scene went horribly wrong. You don't need to mention names, but I'd appreciate your views on this.
+ I do not think that this is something particular to the local scene. From the moment people interact and work with each other, the risk of things going wrong between them always exists. As I already said in the previous answer our (sub-)scene is very small. Everybody knows (and gossips) each other. Therefore the vibrations from such tumults make our microcosm crumble.
I was involved in both situations that you are referring to. In the long-term I evaluate them as positive, because I consider that the persons in question did (or in some cases claimed that they did) things for the scene but they expected things in return that were eventually not exactly what the rest of the interested parties had in mind. They were somehow exposed. Looking backwards, if I could change something, I would have been more diplomatic in order to avoid useless drama.
- What do you think about the integrity and the ethos (or otherwise) of the music press in Hellas , namely Metal Hammer as you've been writing for many years there?
Metal Hammer Greece is the only big metal magazine in the country, 20 years now. Such publications live from advertisements. Their business partners are distributors, gig promoters, record shops, etc. There exists a fine line in such relationships, especially in the context of a small country and of a structure that is the only one of its kind locally. I write in Metal Hammer since 1998 and I think that the magazine has avoided becoming the whore of the local metal business, achieving a level of independence and integrity. I am aware of at least a few situations where we got boycotted from partners that didn’t appreciate honest criticism either of themselves or the bands whose output they work with. Of course things are not romantic or 100% spontaneous (as eventually for a fan/webzine).
What I appreciate and the main reason I’m still doing it, is that it is a platform that allows me side by side with the more “commercial” and big names to present material that I select based exclusively on my personal evaluation and perception. It is read by more or less 50.000 people every month. The compromise of the somehow mainstream media of a glossy magazine that can be bought everywhere is worth the pain. For example I have already printed a non-musical discussion with Brian CATHARSIS or features with FORGARDUR HELVITIS, we have columns with obscure underground shit... I was even capable a couple of months ago to write a page-long article of my favorite book: the Trilogy Foundation by Isaac Asimov. I feel that in the context of education that I mentioned in the religion question, we contribute with our own modest way to the improvement of the country’s aesthetics and there is a lot of pointers to good independent culture. It is a process that I want to repeat, I was reading the same magazine when I was younger. I precisely remember features in the early 90’s with metal bands NECROMANTIA and KING DIAMOND, who were the first time when I came in contact with opinions exposing the true (criminal & shallow) nature of Christian religion. It shocked me in the first place but was something that stayed in my mind since and that I have explored later. It was also thanks to the same magazine that I got interested & did some research on heathen pre-Christian cults: for mainstream culture they simply do not exist (in school of course nobody really talks about the true history of religions).
- Name three people in Hellas you would not mind seeing dead, and why.
- The archbishop Christodoulos. He represents the intolerance & fascism of Christian Orthodoxy in all its glory. During the Junta of the colonels he was ignoring the crimes & countrywide turmoil that were happening because “he minded only about his studies”. When the government removed from the new ID’s the religion, he started a holy war and gathered 3.000.000 signatures in order to make the government retire the law. Make him die slowly please.
- Panayotis Psomiadis. The prefect of Salonika , the perfect example of a local nationalist/racist/Christian but also an incompetent politician and a fine demagogue. What can you say about a person who was offering ouzo bottles to car drivers in front of the cameras – in a country where thousands die or stay invalid every year on the asphalt? The modern greek at its worst.
- Yiorgos Voulgarakis. The minister of culture of the current government. He has “I WILL FUCK YOU” written all over his face. I hate his guts.
-. Anything else you have in mind?
+ First of all congratulations for MORE THAN SOUNDS! Quality and high aesthetics are rare qualities in music webzines nowadays… HAILZ!
Whoever reads this and would want to experience an elegant and devastating sonic assault representing healthy worldviews, should consider checking out our debut album INDIGENOUS out soon on BLAST BEAT MAILMURDER. BBM is my small label and I have a bunch of interesting & inspiring releases on vinyl+plastic rounded up for the next couple of months. More info on www.myspace.com/blastbeatmailmurder, mailmurder.multimania.com (the latter is to be redesigned completely soon).
I’m also involved into another music projekt, PARASIDE. It is basically a combination of sludge and extreme metal with heathen, ritualistic and ambient moods. We have two demo tracks up on myspace.com/paraside and are preparing our first official rekording.
Last but not least, not earlier than yesterday our drummer quit STRAIGHTHATE. If you’re qualified and interested please contact us.
Thanks for the interrogation & for the exposure, we appreciate it a lot! Support independent music, RESIST THE RISE OF THEOCRACY!
Panos/SXH
band links: www.straighthate.gr, www.myspace.com/sxh, paraside
label: Blast Beat Mailmurder site, Blast Beat Mailmurder MySpace
address: SXH, c/o BBM, Box#60581, 15305 Kontopefko, Hellas-Greece
listen to: Straighthate - "Higher Mastered" from the Indigenous CD on Blast Beat Mailmurder